Cost of Rambus

Whitestar90 · 12-05-2005, 03:24 PM

Hello, I was wondering if anyone here knew why PC 800 RDRAM (Rambus) was so expensive compared to other RAM, both newer and older models.

For instance. This stick of 128mb RDRAM cost over $40, while this stick of DDR-400 RAM cost a low $12. What is the reason of the huge price difference, is it simply company price-gouging, or is there some technological reason that the price is so much higher?

Thanks for the time,
--Whitestar90 (Unfortunately stuck with a system requiring astronomically expensive System Memory)

crazijoe · 12-06-2005, 08:15 AM

The reason is because Rambus memory is a proprietary technology of Rambus Inc., therefore manufacturers that want to produce it are required to pay a royalty to Rambus Inc. DDR designs, on the other hand, are open architecture. Intel was locked into a contract with Rambus and that is why earlier systems did not use DDR memory. When the contract ran out, Intel pushed asided the Rambus for the more readily avalible and cost efficient DDR platform.

12-05-2005, 03:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Whitestar90 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 114 OS: XP Home	Cost of Rambus Hello, I was wondering if anyone here knew why PC 800 RDRAM (Rambus) was so expensive compared to other RAM, both newer and older models. For instance. This stick of 128mb RDRAM cost over $40, while this stick of DDR-400 RAM cost a low $12. What is the reason of the huge price difference, is it simply company price-gouging, or is there some technological reason that the price is so much higher? Thanks for the time, --Whitestar90 (Unfortunately stuck with a system requiring astronomically expensive System Memory)

12-06-2005, 08:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
crazijoe Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Omaha, The Center of the Universe Posts: 7,632 OS: WinXP, Win2K3 My System	The reason is because Rambus memory is a proprietary technology of Rambus Inc., therefore manufacturers that want to produce it are required to pay a royalty to Rambus Inc. DDR designs, on the other hand, are open architecture. Intel was locked into a contract with Rambus and that is why earlier systems did not use DDR memory. When the contract ran out, Intel pushed asided the Rambus for the more readily avalible and cost efficient DDR platform. __________________ Microsoft MCSA + Messaging, MVP, A+, Network+ http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...other/Help.jpg Do you want a real Republican? HDD diagnostic tools / HDD data recovery software